Members of the LGBT community have rallied behind presidential candidate Mar Roxas after promising that he will include a civil union between same sex couples in the Anti-Discrimination Bill once he is elected as president.
Both Mar and his wife, Korina Sanchez, have been staunch supporters of LGBT rights. Fashion designer Renee Salud, an LGBT advocate and supporter of Mar, also hopes that the candidate would finally pass the Anti-Discrimination Bill which is still pending in Congress since it was filed in 1998.
Although this bill would make hate crimes and oppression against gays in the workplace and schools illegal, it does not include the legalization of same sex marriage.
That being said, Mar will add a provision on civil union so that same sex couples would have protection on property rights, next-of-kin rights, and other legal rights similar to heterosexual couples.
“Dapat tamasahin ng bawat Pilipino ang lahat ng kanilang karapatan sa ilalim ng batas ano man ang kanilang etnisidad, relihiyon, sexual orientation, at gender identity (All Filipinos must enjoy all of their rights under the law regardless of their ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity),” Mar said in a recent campaign rally with the LGBT community.
[Bandera]
Photo courtesy of Mar Roxas’ Twitter page